Advanced A2 Discussion

I just started playing the game again after a somewhat long hiatus (like 2 years) and I'm hoping I can learn some new tricks. Hopefully some of you guys can help me out.

First a question: How the hell does Sodom fight Chun-Li? Her jumping short beats his crouching fierce alot of the time, and his crouching strong doesn't work either. Sac-throwing doesn't get me too far if she times the kick right. Nothing short of an AC seems to work. Her standing jabs are great pressure, and she can mix that up with throws. Her ducking RH beats alot as well. Is there any tricks I can use against her or is this a complete mismatch? I've noticed she's considered kind of a monster in this game.

Sodom's Lvl1 Scrape super trades with many of Chun's pokes, so it isn't worth it to throw them out randomly. Actually, it isn't such a good idea to throw out supers randomly for any reason. I guess just using the Alpha Counter wouldn't be such a bad idea, seeing how fast you gain meter.

Yeah, Chun-Li has a lot going for her in the game. Crazy low forward and whatnot. But fighting an uphill battle makes the match-ups more entertaining, IMO.

I'm not really so bad at the game, so if you have any questions, feel free to post. Come on, people still play Alpha 2! You know who you are.

Sodom is pretty much fucked, kinda like most of the rest of the characters. Chun has way too much priority and speed for Sodom to keep up (not to mention that huge ass damage custom combo of hers). Not much (if anything) in Sodom's repetoire will beat her jumping short or crouching RH (some moves might trade, but even then, they are few and far between). Sorry, I don't play Sodom much, but Chun's got him beat clean.

however, things aren't so grim, since this IS alpha 2, the land of alpha counters. Plus Sodom has some other advantages as well.

Against jumping chun : chunli can either stick her legs out early or late when she jumps. Sodom can counter in 5 ways :
1) Jumping back roundhouse - this is just on reaction/prediction. Sodom has an above average air to air roundhouse.
2) Crouching fierce : against chunli who sticks leg out late
3) Throw : against chunli for sticks leg out early
4) Alpha counter : against chunli who sticks leg out early
5) His air catchy thingie : for fun

Against crouching forward chun, try sticking out standing short and fierce at max range. You can also throw in a jab 360 every now and then and it WILL hit Chun from that range. If you have a level 2 or above meter jump straight up. From there you get multiple options

1) If Chun walks forward you do jumping forward.
2) If Chun tries to crouch forward + roundhouse you can 720 or do rush super.
3) If Chun jumps you block, then throw her ass when you both land.

Sodom's effective range IMO is about 1 to 2 characters outside Chun's crouching forward range. Mainly you have to use standing fierce and jab jitte scrap to keep her there. Build up that meter and AC anything she throws at you. Chunli can't CC you from that range.

Another important thing to remember about Sodom is that he can recover roll BACKWARDS. Always always roll backwards whenever you hit the floor. This puts you in your ideal range and Chun has to work her way back in.

Actually I've been playing this matchup a decent amount recently, and I've found that Sodom doesn't lose the fight for free. Let me just write down what I've found.

Sodom has a solid ground game, but Chun's j.lk is just insane. Although like you said, positioning is paramount. Sodom CAN counter it although you end up using many flimsy anti-airs depending on the situation. I end up just saving meter for the AC and just trying to stay out of the way of her jump.

Sodom's C.RH is great. It accents his ground game very well, and is his best mid-range move, IMO. Learn the range on it. His Standing strong and standing forward are also good, and you can cancel the forward into a jab Jitte Slash, then possibly follow it up with a Slide. His crouching short is also important, and every so often I buffer it into his 360+P. This is effective but should be done no more than like, twice a match because it is not a tick and you can be jabbed out of it on reaction. Sometimes I'll use a standing strong after a crouching short, because it will whack people jumping away expecting the 360. More later.

You know in all the years I've played Alpha 2 I never knew about that backwards roll! How do you do it?

Does anyone have any CC's with Sodom? What's the Chun-Li one that was mentioned?

If you have a level 2 or above meter jump straight up. From there you get multiple options

1) If Chun walks forward you do jumping forward.
2) If Chun tries to crouch forward + roundhouse you can 720 or do rush super.
3) If Chun jumps you block, then throw her ass when you both land.

I haven't tried this, but couldn't Chun-li just walk under you and hit you with her C.RH? That functions as a great anti-air.

The Sodom CC i usually go for is: Blow-out CC, forward into repeated strong jitte strikes, CC meter runs out, d.fierce into 360+rh. Painfull. Although, sometimes they get knocked off their feet at the end off the CC sometimes (?) which means you can't d.fierce into 360+rh. I have no idea why.

Also, utilize Sodom's grab moves, when positioned right, she has trouble getting out of them, also his 720 grab super, it really kills her life meter.......i think grabs would mean the death of Chunny in this game.....

Most people put Zangief in the second tier, but other than him it's debateable.

Dan is considered 2nd worst in the game, better than only Birdie. I however am willing to prove everyone wrong about that. I think Dhalsim is pretty shitty in A2, and Dan is somewhere closer to mid-tier.

i really think sim is decent. his only real flaw(granted its a big flaw) is that ac's destroy his limbs. but other than that, i still think hes a solid character. good CC and inferno super and the typical sim shit. its just that damn downfall when it comes to getting owned by ac's

As for Sak, she isn't nearly as good in this game as she was in A3. She seems slower, fireballs come out slower (to me), and her CCs aren't really that good (nowhere near as good as her VCs in A3). She isn't a bad character, but nowhere near the top 4 in this game.

ken/ryu/akuma CC's i use are trip, rh hurricane kick, srk x2, does hella damage..........chuns of course everyone knows hers.....umm lets see thats about all the cc's i know! lol, i only use 3 characters.

As for Sak, she isn't nearly as good in this game as she was in A3. She seems slower, fireballs come out slower (to me), and her CCs aren't really that good (nowhere near as good as her VCs in A3). She isn't a bad character, but nowhere near the top 4 in this game.

Um, no. After the top 4, second tier is: Zangeif, Rolento, Sakura
Sakura is still very solid with the best cross-up games in the cast. She's very near the top.

Rose CCs? Why bother? CCs are the last thing you'll be wanting to spend her meter on. Level 1 Illusion, Level 1 Soul Throw, and both ACs are far better options than her CCs. But if you must:

Sakura: For her custom combo, trip and immediately cancel into hk hurricane kick, then xx into the dragon punch at the end of her hurricane kick. Its weird but with sakura, but if you want to get full damage with her hurricane kick, make sure you cancel when the opponent is still near the ground, and not flying outward from the cc cr. rh.

Rose: never really try it on arcade, but for people who can't roll, use her hp grab in the corner with her. So for example, actiavte cc, cr. rh, xx hk drill xx (air grab * n). It works on snes thats for sure. If at all possible, safe your super for her anti-air grab or better yet the soul illusion. It gives rose ability for insane chip damage.

Originally posted by erco shit, didn't know there were decent non-sweep ccs.

Guy's c.forward IS a sweep. It's just faster than his slide. Gief's c.forward isn't... it's just so you can keep them grounded so you can end the combo with a grab (although I seem to remember there being a glitch where you can still SPD at the end of juggling CC... but that may have just been a rumor). Gief's CC that starts with a c.roundhouse still isn't that bad...

For anyone who's wondering about CC's, check out my Alpha 2 vid here. It has each character's most damaging CC (or at least the most damaging one I could find). Transcript can be found on the same page.

Rose's fireball CC only does insane damage if your Soul Spark is powered up (like 6-8 absorbs). No one with a brain will allow her to absorb that many. After at most 2 absorbs, most people stop when they see they've just given her a free level. Her repeated Soul Spirals is the more practical combo.

Hey Gunter, I understand your something of a Zangief expert, so here's a question for ya.

Are Zangief's ticks in this game as effective as they seem? I've used various ticks on various people over the years and they said they couldn't jump out of it. I don't know if thats true, but they seem very effective. On that note, do you think that using CCs with him is worth it over ticking the FAB, or the FAB in general?

Originally posted by RadicalEdward Hey Gunter, I understand your something of a Zangief expert, so here's a question for ya.

Are Zangief's ticks in this game as effective as they seem? I've used various ticks on various people over the years and they said they couldn't jump out of it. I don't know if thats true, but they seem very effective. On that note, do you think that using CCs with him is worth it over ticking the FAB, or the FAB in general?

I wouldn't call myself an expert... I just stole all my stuff from Chensor, Sirlin, and various Gief players in Japan.

But as far as ticks with him go... forward knees into SPD is extremely good. It is WAY too good. A2 was the last version of SF where he could tick with such success.

And Gief's meter should be used for CCs 95% of the time. Even at level 1, ppl can't block low if they were standing when you activated. Gief has the longest non-slide c.roundhouse in the game (maybe tied with Rose?), and comboing into Green Hands from that leads to BIG damage. I never really tick into FABs. I like to empty jump and land with FABs once in a while, as it'll grab any poke that they tried to stick out. I'll use FABs maybe 1% of the time I'm playing him. The other 4% is for ACs. His ACs are really really good. You just have to know when to use which one (although I tend to lean towards his Kick AC in more situations...).

Don't be afraid to throw with Sakura, it's great. Not the throw itself, but because it leads to perfect crossup opportunity.

If you get caught Standing (and they CC), at least *TRY* to counter with a special or CC. I've seen too many people just eat the CC without even trying to stop it. Even if you get blow-back. It's hard, but why not right?

1.) Does invincibility play any role in seting up a CC? I've tried blowing through fireballs with it and have just ended up getting hit as I ran through it. Is it worth the effort?

2.) Did anyone check out NKI volume 6? That is some crazy shit. Is that what the tournament CCs look like?

3.) If you can't block in reaction to a CC, can you CC in reaction to a CC? It seems like its possible, but I've not tried it yet.

The more meter you have, the longer your invincibility lasts... so in general, you want to CC through FBs at level 2 or higher. I like doing it at 2 and a half. Also, the width of the character plays a huge role. In my entire life, I've only gone through a fB once with Gief, but Guy can probably go through at level 1.

Also, counter CCs are what makes CCs tolerable. Anyone who says "if you stand near them, you die" doesn't know how to play A2 properly. The customer is NOT always right. The SECOND customer is USUALLY right. However (having worked in customer service I know this for a fact), you're always better off keeping customers away. In A2, you do this by constantly pressuring with c.strong and c.forward. A2 has the best footsies of any SF, which is why I love it so much.